SENATE HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND SENIOR
CITIZENS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 4848
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 3, 2025
The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens
Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments
Assembly Bill No. 4848 (1R).
As amended, this bill requires a licensed health care professional,
which will include a licensed physician, licensed physician assistant,
certified advanced practice nurse, certified nurse midwife, certified
professional midwife, and certified midwife, who provides prenatal
maternity care to a pregnant person, to assess the person for possible
risk factors for lead exposure and elevated blood lead levels based on
the most recent guidelines and recommendations of the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
If the health care professional cannot perform a required lead
screening, the health care professional may refer the patient to another
health care professional who is able to perform the lead screening.
The bill stipulates that if a health care professional receives
laboratory test results indicating that the pregnant person has an
elevated blood lead level, the health care professional is to: notify the
patient about the test results; provide the patient with an explanation of
the significance of lead poisoning; and ensure that any of the patient’s
children or other members of the patient’s household under the age of
six are, or have been, screened for lead exposure.
Under the amended bill, a health care professional is: (1) not
required to conduct lead screening if the patient objects to the testing
in writing or if the health care professional determines that another
health care professional has already completed the lead screening
required under the bill; and (2) to comply with the blood sample
collection requirements specified in section 4 of P.L.1995, c.328
(C.26:2-137.5).
The bill requires a laboratory which performs a lead screening test
to report the test results to the Department of Health (DOH), the local
health department in the municipality in which the pregnant person 2
resides, and the health care professional that submitted the specimen,
within five business days of obtaining the test result.
A record of all lead screenings conducted under the bill is to be
included in the central database maintained by the DOH as required
under section 5 of P.L.1995, c.328 (C.26:2-137.6). The information
reported to and compiled by the DOH is confidential, except that
statistical reports may be made available using information compiled
from the database, excluding personal identifying information.
As amended and reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No.
4848 (1R) is identical to Senate Bill No. 3616 , which was also
amended and reported by the committee on this date.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS :
The committee amendments revise the scope of the bill to include
licensed health care professionals who provide prenatal maternity care
to a pregnant person, including licensed physicians, licensed physician
assistants, certified advanced practice nurses, certified nurse midwives,
certified professional midwives, and certified midwives. Previously,
certain provisions of the bill only applied to physicians, registered
professional nurses, physician assistants, and prenatal care providers.
The committee amendments revise the requirements of the bill to
require that the health care professionals under the scope of the bill
will assess pregnant persons for possible risk factors for lead exposure
and elevated blood lead levels based on the most recent guidelines and
recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, instead of establishing certain conditions or a set
schedule for the lead screening.
The committee amendments provide that a health care professional
will not be required to conduct a lead screening if the health care
professional determines that another health care professional has
already completed the lead screening required under the bill.
The committee amendments remove a provision of the bill that
would require that the patient would receive information concerning
the specific dangers of lead poisoning during a pregnancy and
information on how to access lead assistance programs offered by the
Department of Community Affairs.